Well, I know I’ve been posting up a lot of these “Crush Of The Day” articles lately, (my friend Car has even threatened to pilfer the title and use it for her “guy” version, featuring Oguri Shun, of all people…!) but if I happen to get absorbed in a really terrific drama and that drama features really terrific actress, more likely than not I’m gonna be fallin’ for said actress BIG time!
Such it was for cute and spunky actress Aibu Saki, who appeared in not just one, but TWO great dramas that I happened to be watching!
After watching the powerful, emotional drama Last Friends, I really needed something light to “clear my palate”, and the comedy “Zettai Kareshi” seemed to fit the bill! A quirky story of a shy, plain girl who inadvertently finds herself in the possession of a robot boyfriend (played by Brother Beat alum Hayami Mokomichi), this story’s success laid squarely on the lead actress’ shoulders, and Aibu Saki performed admirably! Innocent and cute while at the same time tomboyish and frazzled, she channeled the best “Yamaguchi Tomoko” I’ve seen in years!
After watching a few episodes and just LOVING her in each one, I began to wonder if Aibu Saki was as good as she was in Zettai Kareshi in OTHER dramas. By chance I came across a drama with Saki in it starring Nagase Tomoya of TOKIO fame called UTAHIME. Being a TOKIO fan from way back (as readers of this blog know well), I immediately grabbed it up!
This drama was radically different from the first one as Utahime was a period piece set in 1960’s Japan as opposed to the oh-so-modern (and in fact, quite futuristic) robot romance in Zettai Kareshi…but past or present, it didn’t matter…Aiba Saki was just WONDERFUL in both!!
I watched JUST enough of “Utahime” to reassure myself that the greatness that is Aibu Saki wasn’t a fluke, and then put that drama aside to watch AFTER I finished “Zettai Kareshi”, because I really wanted to get “into” the character, and it was easier without having Saki jump between 1960 and 2005 each episode.
And you know one of the more incredible things about my obsession with Aibu Saki is the fact that I have NEVER liked a girl with a bob-style haircut before. Zen Zen. Ask any of my friends, and they will attest this statement! I’ve always heretofore referred to it as an “acorn” style haircut. I mean, even Catherine Zeta Jones in CHICAGO couldn’t sway my opinion about that dreaded cut, and that’s saying something! But man, something about Saki really did it for me, and I found myself LIKING that hair! Then, when I saw Utahime, and it STILL was in that bob, I gave in, and have accepted it ever since…WHAT A MILESTONE! Ahahahaha!